232 Opinions Concerning the IPCC

This week an important collection of documents entered the public domain. These are the answers 232 interested individuals provided to a series of questions concerning the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

A committee struck by the InterAcademy Council (an international organization of science bodies) was charged with investigating the IPCC’s procedures and processes. It invited public comments via a questionnaire earlier this year and took these comments into account before writing its report. Released in August, the report was described as ‘damning‘ by journalists (and has been updated since).

The public comments, with most names and identifying details removed, have taken this long to materialize. Persistence on the part of Canadian blogger Hilary Ostrov appears to have played an important role in shaking them loose (see here and here).

The public comments add up to 678 pages (3 mb PDF here) – and will take some time to wade through. I’ve perused them quickly and have compiled this guide to facilitate discussion of them.

Anyone who has the time to peek at this material over the next few weeks is encouraged to drop by Hilary’s blog and leave comments. If we share our thoughts, impressions, and discoveries all in one place (at least in link form), we can build on each other’s efforts.

Interestingly, David Henderson‘s comments (which were submitted in the form of an essay, rather than as answers to specific questions) are not included in this document. Which leaves one wondering how many other submissions might still be AWOL.